Austin's NBC affiliate KXAN is getting a new owner in $1.6 billion deal

Austin's NBC affiliate KXAN getting new owner in $1.6 billion deal

Austin-based LIN Media is being scooped up by Media General Inc.
Courtesy of KXAN.com

Austin-based LIN Media LLC, which owns three TV stations in Austin and dozens of others around the U.S., is being scooped up by media conglomerate Media General Inc. for $1.6 billion in cash and stock.

If the combo gains regulatory approval, LIN-owned KXAN, Austin’s NBC affiliate; KBVO, Austin’s MyNetworkTV affiliate; and KNVA, Austin’s The CW affiliate, would be on track to fall under the Media General umbrella. The proposed merger was announced Friday.

With the addition of LIN’s 43 stations, Media General’s TV portfolio would comprise 76 owned or managed TV stations in 46 U.S. markets, and would reach about 23 percent of TV households in the U.S. The deal would make Media General the second largest owner of TV stations in the country.

Richmond, Virginia-based Media General said it expects some of the TV stations to be swapped or sold to meet regulatory requirements, but it didn’t name any of those stations.

If the Media General-LIN merger goes through, it would mark the second change of ownership at an Austin TV station within a year’s time. In December, Gannett Co. Inc. wrapped up its $1.5 billion purchase of Belo Corp. That deal included KVUE, the ABC affiliate in Austin.

In December, Gannett Co. Inc. wrapped up its $1.5 billion purchase of Belo Corp. That deal included KVUE, the ABC affiliate in Austin.

Austin-based LIN Media is being scooped up by Media General Inc.
Courtesy of KXAN.com